Abe Comes Home From Iraq

Abe and I loved every minute of Hawaii and being together the two weeks he was home for R&R. It was almost torture, though, taking him back to the airport knowing he we would be in Iraq for four more months. Time went fast with the holidays approaching, and after the holidays were over getting everything packed and ready to move down to Colorado. Abe’s dad, Calvin, and cousin, Haley, helped me move down to Colorado at the end of February. This was the third time Calvin had helped me move. The first time was moving from Washington to Georgia back in 2009, then from Colorado to Washington in 2010, then this time moving from Washington to Colorado. It definitely will be a little sad when Calvin’s not there moving me in the future! I was extremely grateful for the help and the company from Calvin and Haley. Abe wasn’t going to be home for another two weeks, so Haley stayed with me and kept me company for a week and helped me settle into mine and Abe’s first home. I LOVED having Haley stay with me. Haley helped me SO much, and while we worked a lot to get the house in order, we also were able to have some great bonding experiences. We had some good times shopping for house décor and groceries to fill my empty pantry, breaking in some of the new dishes Abe and I had received for our wedding that had never been opened and made some scrumptious meals; and since we didn’t have a bed or air mattress we slept on the floor with blankets piled on top of each other for as much comfort as possible. We had a great time together! It was very sad to see Haley leave, but it was comforting knowing Abe would be home in just one more week.

Our first house

Calvin and Jane flew down on March 8, the day before Abe was supposed to get home. We were all so excited anticipating Abe’s arrival. Abe called me when leaving Kuwait and told me his next stop would be in Ireland before returning back the United States. I had my phone by me all day waiting to hear from him again. Abe called (early the morning of the 9th) and said their plane had broken down in Ireland and that it would be another day before they would get home. That was very frustrating news to hear, but I was at least grateful Calvin and Jane were there with me. Abe was anxious to get home, but didn’t mind spending a day in Ireland. He said he enjoyed driving on the wrong side of the road and seeing how green and beautiful Ireland was. I’ll admit, I was a little jealous he got to see Ireland! Ty and Michelle were still here in Colorado Springs at the time and we were able to kill time with them that day. Abe called again before leaving Ireland and said they would be flying in March 10 at 7:30 am. I was able to get some decent sleep that night, as I was very tired from the lack of sleep the night before (since I didn’t know we’d have to wait another day at that point). We were told to be at the Special Events Center (where Abe’s unit would be coming home) two hours prior to the return ceremony. That meant we would have to be there by 5:30 am. I got up around 4-4:30 am to get all ready for Abe. I had butterflies the whole morning (early, early morning that is… maybe night still to some people ) . I couldn’t believe Abe was coming home for good! We got to the Special Events Center, got some good seats and waited and waited to hear of any updates on where the Soldiers were at. At about 7 am, there was a big projecting screen that suddenly came on, and we were able to watch our Soldiers’ plane land at Peterson Air Force Base here in Colorado Springs. Everyone was cheering, and the excitement in the auditorium was growing more and more, especially as we saw the Soldiers exiting the plane. You could hear little groups of people throughout the hundreds of people there cheering as they saw their Soldier came off the plane. Abe was one of the last ones to get off the plane, but we saw him and had our turn to cheer. The announcer got up and told us she would announce when they were on their way to Fort Carson. She said they had to get all their stuff off the plane and that it would take a little while. We waited and waited to hear of any updates. After about 25 minutes and wondering when they would leave the Air Force Base, the announcer got up and asked us how excited we were. Everyone cheered and cheered. She asked us that same question a few times, and the cheers just got louder and louder each time she asked. She then said, “Well, what if I told you that your Soldiers are already here on Fort Carson!” The cheers got even louder after that announcement! My heart was pounding. I can’t even begin to explain the excitement that was there in the auditorium at that moment. About five minutes later, the announcer got up and said the Soldiers were right outside the Special Events Center. I didn’t even know how to prepare myself for this moment. Everyone was going crazy! The commander of the unit first came in by himself as the song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith started playing. Immediately fog machines were turned on by the doors the Soldiers would be coming through, and the doors opened and Soldiers burst through the doors and filled up a good portion of the room. There were about 250 Soldiers coming home that morning. I had never been so overwhelmed with excitement. The Soldiers all lined up in front of the crowd of people. A few words were said and then the commander yelled out, “DISMISSED!” And the Soldiers and families ran to each other. I didn’t know if I’d ever find Abe, but luckily he saw me, his mom, and his dad. My favorite part of all was hugging Abe for the first time. I was so proud of him and it felt like such an accomplishment that we had gotten through the last year. I was so happy Calvin and Jane could share that proud moment of their son coming home from war. Abe was so happy to have them there, too. We then went and found Abe’s things in the trucks outside of the Special Events Center, and we took Abe to see his new home.
We spent the rest of that day with Calvin, Jane, Ty and Michelle. Calvin and Jane left the next day. In a lot of ways it felt normal being back together with Abe again. In some ways it felt weird. We had only been married 8 months before Abe deployed, so it was like we were newlyweds again. Since Abe’s homecoming, I think we have gained an even greater appreciation for each other and we look forward to any time we get together. There were definitely some adjustments post-deployment, but those adjustments were a piece of cake to get through. We felt like the deployment was our biggest accomplishment, and that if we could get through that, we can get through almost anything.

Abe and Grace back together again

I just want to say how grateful I am for my life. I love being in the military, and I am so grateful to my husband for all the sacrifices he has made for our country, our family, and most importantly for the freedom that we all enjoy today. I love you, Abe!